In the United States, T-Mobile (an affiliate of Deutsche Telekom) offers [[GSM]] [[SIM]] cards on pre-pay and pay monthly plans.

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A work in progress...

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T-Mobile also offers GSM service (with GPRS) in other countries, not yet listed in this article.

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== United States ==

A cursory glance on [http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans at 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26] indicated that without entering zip code data two types of plans are available. 2-year contract plans (I think you have to talk to some for the 1 year plans) and Prepaid plans.

A cursory glance on [http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans at 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26] indicated that without entering zip code data two types of plans are available. 2-year contract plans (I think you have to talk to some for the 1 year plans) and Prepaid plans.

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== Contract Plans ==

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=== Contract Plans ===

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* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 It seemed to me all there contract plans are 2 year terms unless you try to get one by calling or visiting a store [http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/ "For a 1-year contract, call 1-877-387-4324 or visit one of our T-Mobile stores" at the bottom of the page]

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* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 It seemed to me all their contract plans are 2 year terms unless you try to get one by calling or visiting a store [http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/ "For a 1-year contract, call 1-877-387-4324 or visit one of our T-Mobile stores" at the bottom of the page]

* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 They have either Individual/Regular Individual/MyFav Family/Regular or Family/MyFav plans

* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 They have either Individual/Regular Individual/MyFav Family/Regular or Family/MyFav plans

* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 Mobile To Mobile "...Note: Service in North and South Carolina, Iowa (area codes 319, 563, and 712), Wisconsin (area code 608), and Michigan (area code 906) is provided by T-Mobile roaming partners so calls will not be rated as mobile-to-mobile in these areas. Calls from or to locations outside of the US will not be rated as mobile-to-mobile."

* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 Mobile To Mobile "...Note: Service in North and South Carolina, Iowa (area codes 319, 563, and 712), Wisconsin (area code 608), and Michigan (area code 906) is provided by T-Mobile roaming partners so calls will not be rated as mobile-to-mobile in these areas. Calls from or to locations outside of the US will not be rated as mobile-to-mobile."

* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 Unpleasantly they have a gold status that gives one different refill values than normal users.

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* Once you have spent $100 on minutes, you are a "gold" customer, your minutes don't expire for a year, and you get slightly better rates on the cheaper cards. Best to just dump $100 into it initially.

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* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 I expect those that expend large amounts of money get gold status.

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08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 If you buy the $100 you get the gold crap

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and your minutes don't expire for a year but I bet there's tricky small print.

* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 You lose your number after 90 days of no service... "...To keep your mobile number active, refill within 90 days after your minutes expire. After 90 days, your account will be canceled and you will lose your phone number. If you want to restart service, you will need to activate new service."

* 08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 You lose your number after 90 days of no service... "...To keep your mobile number active, refill within 90 days after your minutes expire. After 90 days, your account will be canceled and you will lose your phone number. If you want to restart service, you will need to activate new service."

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* '''Inside Information:''' If you want to buy prepaid plans, it is best to go with the $100 gold plan. The catch is there is a $50 activation fee, so you end up paying $150 to get a SIM card with 1000 minutes valid for 1 year. The best thing to do is to not approach with an existing phone and get the "free" phone they give you with a $100 prepaid plan. The phone itself is not free, but costs $30. The best part about taking the phone is they will wave the $50 activation fee, so you basically will be getting a backup phone for free and pay $20 less to get started. There is always ebay willing to take the phone for you... ;-)

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* '''Inside Information:''' If you want to buy prepaid plans, it is best to go with the $100 gold plan. The catch is there is a $10 activation fee, so you end up paying $110 to get a SIM card with 1000 minutes valid for 1 year. Their base line phone is $30 (2007-08-01) if you want a backup phone.

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* Look into the T-Mobile Flex plan: Pay as you go $39.99 for 1000 minutes, evenings and weekends free! No contracts (or so the salesman said). Still costs $20 to buy a sim card from the store.

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*T-mobile Flex-plan : It is the same as a plan (MyFav, Individual plan etc etc) expect you pay 5$ more, and there is no contract, you can quit whenever you want. You can add Sidekick on it if you want.

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* They demanded an ID card from me to set up a contract plan. Offering a $500 security deposit got the store manager to agree to go ahead, but the "activation center" refused. This was not an issue with prepaid plans.

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=== Data Access Plans ===

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* T-Mobile does not offer data plans on pre-pay accounts ''Information from T-Mobile Store in the US on 2007-08-01''

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* Presumably, there is data service on the Sidekick pre-pay plans, but it might require social engineering to get a Sidekick plan without a Sidekick. (Can anyone with a sidekick plan confirm or deny data service?)

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== Data Access Plans ==

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* GPRS data access in the US works fine with Phase 1 phone and instructions on [[Manually_using_GPRS]]

* FIXME: Add information here

* FIXME: Add information here

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[[Category:Information]]

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[[Category:Carriers]]

Latest revision as of 21:10, 22 July 2008

In the United States, T-Mobile (an affiliate of Deutsche Telekom) offers GSMSIM cards on pre-pay and pay monthly plans.

T-Mobile also offers GSM service (with GPRS) in other countries, not yet listed in this article.

08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 They have either Individual/Regular Individual/MyFav Family/Regular or Family/MyFav plans

08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 Mobile To Mobile "...Note: Service in North and South Carolina, Iowa (area codes 319, 563, and 712), Wisconsin (area code 608), and Michigan (area code 906) is provided by T-Mobile roaming partners so calls will not be rated as mobile-to-mobile in these areas. Calls from or to locations outside of the US will not be rated as mobile-to-mobile."

Once you have spent $100 on minutes, you are a "gold" customer, your minutes don't expire for a year, and you get slightly better rates on the cheaper cards. Best to just dump $100 into it initially.

Refill value

Premium Minutes

Cost/Min

Min Use Avoid Waste

Expiration

Gold Premium Minutes

Gold Premium Expiration

$10

30min

33.3cent/min

~1min/3day avg

90days

gold+5min

gold+330days

$25

130min

19.2cent/min

~4min/3day avg

90days

gold+20min

gold+330days

$50

400min

12.5cent/min

~9min/2day avg

90days

gold+60min

gold+330days

$100

1000min

10.0cent/min

1year

gold+0min

gold+0days

08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 You lose your number after 90 days of no service... "...To keep your mobile number active, refill within 90 days after your minutes expire. After 90 days, your account will be canceled and you will lose your phone number. If you want to restart service, you will need to activate new service."

Inside Information: If you want to buy prepaid plans, it is best to go with the $100 gold plan. The catch is there is a $10 activation fee, so you end up paying $110 to get a SIM card with 1000 minutes valid for 1 year. Their base line phone is $30 (2007-08-01) if you want a backup phone.

Look into the T-Mobile Flex plan: Pay as you go $39.99 for 1000 minutes, evenings and weekends free! No contracts (or so the salesman said). Still costs $20 to buy a sim card from the store.

T-mobile Flex-plan : It is the same as a plan (MyFav, Individual plan etc etc) expect you pay 5$ more, and there is no contract, you can quit whenever you want. You can add Sidekick on it if you want.

They demanded an ID card from me to set up a contract plan. Offering a $500 security deposit got the store manager to agree to go ahead, but the "activation center" refused. This was not an issue with prepaid plans.

T-Mobile does not offer data plans on pre-pay accounts Information from T-Mobile Store in the US on 2007-08-01

Presumably, there is data service on the Sidekick pre-pay plans, but it might require social engineering to get a Sidekick plan without a Sidekick. (Can anyone with a sidekick plan confirm or deny data service?)

GPRS data access in the US works fine with Phase 1 phone and instructions on Manually_using_GPRS

08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 They have either Individual/Regular Individual/MyFav Family/Regular or Family/MyFav plans

08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 Mobile To Mobile "...Note: Service in North and South Carolina, Iowa (area codes 319, 563, and 712), Wisconsin (area code 608), and Michigan (area code 906) is provided by T-Mobile roaming partners so calls will not be rated as mobile-to-mobile in these areas. Calls from or to locations outside of the US will not be rated as mobile-to-mobile."

Prepaid Plans

08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 Unpleasantly they have a gold status that gives one different refill values than normal users.

08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 I expect those that expend large amounts of money get gold status.

Refill value

Premium Minutes

Cost/Min

Min Use Avoid Waste

Expiration

Gold Premium Minutes

Gold Premium Expiration

$10

30min

33.3cent/min

~1min/3day avg

90days

gold+5min

gold+330days

$25

130min

19.2cent/min

~4min/3day avg

90days

gold+20min

gold+330days

$50

400min

12.5cent/min

~9min/2day avg

90days

gold+60min

gold+330days

$100

1000min

10.0cent/min

1year

gold+0min

gold+0days

08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 If you buy the $100 you get the gold crap

and your minutes don't expire for a year but I bet there's tricky small print.

08:58 UTC 2007-07-26 You lose your number after 90 days of no service... "...To keep your mobile number active, refill within 90 days after your minutes expire. After 90 days, your account will be canceled and you will lose your phone number. If you want to restart service, you will need to activate new service."

Inside Information: If you want to buy prepaid plans, it is best to go with the $100 gold plan. The catch is there is a $50 activation fee, so you end up paying $150 to get a SIM card with 1000 minutes valid for 1 year. The best thing to do is to not approach with an existing phone and get the "free" phone they give you with a $100 prepaid plan. The phone itself is not free, but costs $30. The best part about taking the phone is they will wave the $50 activation fee, so you basically will be getting a backup phone for free and pay $20 less to get started. There is always ebay willing to take the phone for you... ;-)